This past week here in Boston, it's been raining cats and dogs, and with the average life expectancy for the household pet going up these days, you could even say that "old dogs" have been falling from "up in the air"!
Huh? You see what I did there? Okay, fine, that was a bit of a stretch... But this is "Movie Night"!
*theme song plays*
Hello, and welcome to "Movie Night", probably the last show on this channel that'll be converted to high definition. I'm your host, Jonathan Paula. Our first film tonight is the 2009 comedy/drama "Up In The Air."
Released last December to a surprisingly good box office run, "Up In The Air" is the Academy Award-nominated film starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a guy who travels around the country, basically firing people for a living. 6 00:00:53,687 --> 00:01:05,687 Joining him for some of the adventures are Natalie Keener, played adorably by Anna Kendrick, and Alex, played by Vera Farmiga, who quickly become his traveling sex buddies. The setting of this movie is about travel and firing people in a bad economy.
And although it's an original occupation for a leading man, especially for Clooney, it's not a very interesting or exciting one, let alone funny.
I will say that the material is upsettingly true-to-life at times, even gratuitously dramatic as you watch these nice people get fired from 30-year-old jobs.
It's supposed to be a COMEDY film or, at least, I THOUGHT it was. The real focus, though, is on Ryan and Alex's relationship, one that exists only when they're traveling.
Meanwhile, Natalie exhibits some foolishly innocent behavior and naivety, despite seeming mostly competent in her mid-20s. Kendrick, however, does an outstanding job of bringing this character to life.
She quickly becomes a scene stealer in almost every scene she's in. Frankly, all of the actors were absolutely fantastic in this film, really delivering a wide array of specific emotional responses onto the viewer.
I happened to see "Up In The Air" before the Oscar nominations were announced, and frankly, Clooney's Best-Actor nod came as of no surprise to me. This is easily one of the best and most delicate performances he's turned in, in years.
And despite her, how should we say, "advanced" age, Farmiga is beautiful and absolutely convincing in the role of the sexy mistress type that she plays in the film.
While the romantic plotline of this film is the glue that holds this picture together, it relies far too heavily on a 3rd-act twist that I frankly saw coming from the first minutes of the film.
The movie is no worse for this bout of unoriginal predictability, but as a result, it isn't anything special, either. Very well-written, and with even better acting and direction, "Up In The Air" is a refreshing and realistic movie.
It sparks some insightful, introspective thought in the viewer, as we experience a world through the eyes of workaholic Ryan. Sadly, though, when the credits roll, the only lesson learned here is that time and friendships are valuable.
A worthy lesson, yes, but it wasn't anything special. It's well-made, but I'm afraid I didn't find anything truly remarkable about this film, besides the writing and acting, and unfortunately, that doesn't always translate into a great film.
Well, that's what I thought about the movie "Up In The Air." Now, let's see what you guys had to say about it in the YouTube comments. suprinfean wrote... (reads suprinfean's comment)
Jon: sweetkiss00x3 wrote... (reads sweetkiss00x3's comment)
Alright, let's take "Up In The Air" and see how it does in the Rate-o-Matic.
A "cool" and a "great"! As I mentioned, this was a very well-made movie, but I would hesitate to call it a GREAT movie. As such, I scored it just below there, with a "7."
Scoring this movie higher than I would have predicted, you guys praised the acting and writing, as well, scoring it an "8." Well, from this Academy Award loser to another loser of a different sort, let's check out Disney's family comedy "Old Dogs."
Starring John Travolta and Robin Williams as life-long friends and business partners, "Old Dogs" is the story of Charlie Reed and Dan Rayburn, two successful New York executives who are about to land a major deal with a Japanese corporation.
And then, comes the start plot! One day, an old fling from Dan's past re-emerges with a big surprise: Dan is apparently the father to her bastard fraternal twins!
After some not-so-hilarious circumstances force both the mother and the only other caregiver out of the picture, Dan finds himself as the unwitting babysitter of his own children for two weeks, while in the midst of a huge business deal.
And then, like any good Disney film, the hilarity ensues for the entire middle act of the film, with one hilariously contrived plot device after another. Dan accidentally sets fire to a children's campground? Hilarious!
The kids accidentally get Dan and Charlie's medication mixed up, resulting in some unfortunate side effects in a public setting? Hilarious! Dan gets locked in a spray-on tanning booth for too long and comes out looking like an Oompa Loompa? Hilarious!
A poorly conceived breaking-and-entering into the Burlington, Vermont zoo that ends with our heroes in the gorilla pen? Hilarious! Charlie and Dan make some vague reference to being soulmates, and another adult mistakes them for homosexuals? Hilarious!
But let's be honest here- this is a live-action Disney family comedy with Robin Williams. It's pretty much exactly what we all expected. Some scenes actually exceeded my expectations, specifically the first 20 minutes of the film...
..Which were surprisingly fresh and laugh-out-loud funny for a few moments, but once the movie settled into the old-and-busted "surprise-you're-a-dad" plotline, things really slowed down.
"Predictable", "unfunny", "pointless", and "poorly written" are all fine adjectives for this film, but the one adjective that stood out and was the most upsetting for me was "unbelievable."
The entire premise of the film hinges on the fact that Travolta and Williams are supposed to be these over-the-hill business men who are past their prime and constantly being mistaken for grandparents.
Now, Travolta was a guy who we last saw in "The Taking Of Pelham: 123", where he was a gripping and menacing terrorist in the subways of New York. And now, you want us to believe this 56-year-old man is the gay grandparent to some 7-year-old twins?!
Sure, both of these veteran actors have been around since the 70s, but neither one of them even has that much gray hair yet! The failing premise and poor writing aside, "Old Dogs" may delight some younger viewers...
...Who don't mind seeing a movie that literally amounts to nothing more than one slightly humorous gag after another for 88 minutes straight. And on a sadder and more interesting note, although released over a full year after his untimely death...
..."Old Dogs" features a brief posthumous appearance by the late Bernie Mac, who played a charismatic puppeteer and entertainer. Although far from his best work, it was nice to see him one last time on the silver screen.
Anyway, that's what I thought of "Old Dogs." Now, let's see what you had to say in the YouTube comments. aideno64 wrote... (reads aideno64's comment)
Jon: ChristopherKempf wrote... (reads ChristopherKempf's comment)
Okay, so it's obvious that nobody really LOVED this film, but let's see how "Old Dogs" did on the Rate-o-Matic.
A "4" and a "6"! As crummy and as terrible as I thought this movie was, there were a few parts that genuinely made me laugh out loud, which kind of redeemed it for me. I had to score it a "meh."
You guys were a bit more forgiving than I was, obviously swayed enough by the few good parts to overlook the bad parts. You guys scored it a "good." Well, that does it for this week's episode of "Movie Night."
Now, let's take a look forward at some of Hollywood's latest releases, with some Tweet Critiques. dannyzack wrote... (reads dannyzack's Tweet)
Jon: macqumc wrote... (reads macqumc's Tweet)
Well, that does it for tonight's episode. Now, let's take a look forward at the movies we'll be reviewing for next Wednesday.
"The Men Who Stare at Goats" is the other George Clooney comedy released in 2009, and it's brand-new on DVD this week. Our 2nd film next week is the car-racing movie in the 4-part "Fast And Furious" series, the original "Fast and the Furious."
I'm planning to watch all four movies later this week, so I figured that I might as well review the first one for "Movie Night." Anyway, I hope you get a chance to buy, rent, or download these movies before next week's episode.47 00:08:06,587 --> 00:08:13,59 I look forward to hearing what you have to say about them in the comments below. Until then, once again, my name is Jonathan Paula. Thanks for watching "Movie Night."
*end credits play*